For the purposes of labor-saving, improved operation efficiency, and prevention of environmental contamination, there has been a demand for a technique that will enable the film-making conventionally performed in a dark room i.e. the so-called "reverse process" to be performed in an illuminated room, whereby there have been improvements in light-sensitive materials as well as hardware such as a printer.
Such light-sensitive materials capable of being handled in an illuminated room include silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials that can be exposed by ultraviolet-rich light sources such as a high-voltage mercury-vapor lamp, metal halide light source, xenon lamp, and halogen lamp.
These silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials can be handled in a bright environment having an illumination of 100 to 500 luxes, as with a fluorescent lamp for general use, a fluorescent lamp of smaller ultraviolet emission designed for this purpose, or a fluorescent lamp of which ultraviolet emission being eliminated.
The known methods for preparing silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials being capable of handled in an illuminated room (hereinafter referred to as "sensitive materials for use in an illuminated room") are as follows: a method described for example in Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication) No. 125734/1981, wherein an inorganic desensitizer such as rhodium salt, and bismuth salt is added to an emulsion of high chloride content; a method described for example in Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 17273/1970, wherein an organic desensitizer is added to an emulsion of high chloride content; a method described for example in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 157633/1984, and 26041/1986, wherein rhodium salt or an organic desensitizer is added to an emulsion of high silver chloride content.
Recently, conflicting requirements of higher sensitivity, and a longer allowable duration where the light-sensitive material is handled, are required of a sensitive material for use in an illuminated room. As a result of researches for satisfying these conflicting criteria, the inventors have confirmed that a conventional method where rhodium salt, and organic desensitizer, in particular, a desensitizing dye, are added to an emulsion of which silver halide content comprising virtually silver chloride alone is favorable. However, it was learned that an illuminated room sensitive material prepared by such a method has the following disadvantages.
Usually, a light-sensitive material for use in an llluminated room is, in order to prevent halation, provided with a hydrophilic colloid backing layer containing a dye that has a spectral absorption range in a characteristic spectral range in the silver halide, and it has been a common knowledge that a safelight insensitivity of a sensitive material in an illuminated room is better when the backing layer positioned upward. However, with a sensitive material for use in an illuminated room containing a desensitizing dye, the safelight insensitivity deteriorates when the backing surface facing upward is irradiated with a safelight, though the safelight insensitivity of such a material is significantly greater when the emulsion layer side of such a material facing upward is irradiated with a safelight.
Such loss in safelight insensitivity is particularly manifest, when the sensitive material undergone exposure is irradiated with a safelight. This phenomenon is considered that while a latent image formed by exposing is oxidated with a desensitizing dye when irradiated with a safelight, while the characteristic sensitivity of silver halide decreases due to filtering effect of a bucking dye, thereby the enhancement for the latent image with safelight irradiation decreases.